Hemant Soren Shows Nepotism Shyness in Cabinet Formation

Jharkhand Cabinet Oath ceremony Image credit @HemantSorenJMM
Jharkhand: Kalpana Soren Stays Out of Hemant Soren Govt
By Amit Kumar
Ranchi, December 5: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday constituted his Cabinet. The council of ministers formed by the chief minister consists also of ministers from allies – the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
The Hemant Soren-led council of ministers shows the ruling alliance according prominence to the core vote base of the constituents. The chief minister has not included any member from his family in the government.
“Clearly, the chief minister has not given space in his Cabinet to wife Kalpana Soren and brother Basant Soren. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had led the attacks on Hemant Soren for nepotism,” said a senior functionary of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
The JMM leader also stated that the party is careful in reading the mandate of the elections. “The principal reason for the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance in Jharkhand was nepotism. The BJP freely distributed Assembly election tickets to relatives of the senior party leaders. They all except one lost the elections. Hemant Soren is aware that the Jharkhand mandate is against nepotism,” said another senior JMM functionary.
Six members from the JMM took oath as ministers on Thursday. Four from Congress and one from the RJD also took oaths of office at a function for the swearing in of the ministers. The Cabinet formation almost took one week amid hectic parleys in New Delhi over faces of the Congress in the Hemant Soren-led government.
Fifty per cent of the ministers from the ranks of the Congress and JMM from the previous Hemant Soren government have been dropped. Half the Cabinet consists of the new faces.
Mithlesh Thakur, who hailed from upper castes, failed to find place in the government. He lost the elections.
Sanjay Prasad Yadav, who has been elected as an MLA from Godda Assembly seat, has joined the cabinet from the RJD quota. He is considered close to the RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Radhakrishna Kishore, who has won from Chhattarpur Assembly seat from the Palamu division, has joined the government from the Congress quota. He is a Dalit leader.
Three new faces have joined the Jharkhand government. Chamra Linda, Yogendra Mahato and Sudivya Sonu are the new faces in the government. “All five divisions of Jharkhand have been given representation in the government,” added the JMM functionary.
The maximum number of ministers hail from the pocket borough of Hemant Soren in Santhal Pargana. Out of the 18 Assembly seat, the JMM-led alliance had won constituencies from the region.
Four from Santhal Pargana, and two ministers each from the Kolhan, South Chotanagpur and North Chotanagpur divisions have also taken oaths of offices in the government. One minister hails from the Palamu division.
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